Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2017--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I am here to speak on the Koch brothers, but first I want to say briefly to my good friend from Alaska: Instead of playing political games, if he wants to pass a defense bill, we all know what has to be done in a bipartisan way. You don't just take a bill, throw it down, and say ``Take it or leave it.'' That is what happened last year. We worked in a bipartisan way. Defense spending got an increase. So let's stop all the rhetoric and politicizing this issue. Let's work together and get it done. Climate Change

Now, Madam President, I want to talk about the issue before us, and that is the amazing influence of the Koch brothers--two people--on what is going on in this country and particularly when it comes to climate change. I thank Senator Kaine, who spoke before me, and particularly Senator Whitehouse, who has not only organized these speeches but has been the leader in our caucus on focusing on this issue, and it is getting good resonance with the American people.

We have talked. We have failed to act on a number of issues in the last few weeks--Zika, funding the opioid crisis, sensible gun safety measures, a Supreme Court nominee and other judicial nominees. It is stunning how little we have done our job. But probably at the top of the list which deserves attention is that Congress has not done its job on climate change. Why? Why? It is so apparent. Just look at any map of the globe. Senator Kaine and Senator Whitehouse are exactly right about the reason: far-right groups dominated by the Koch brothers. They hide where they send their money, but they dominate it all. They and other deep-pocketed energy interests have funded campaign after campaign against action on climate change. We know that the NRA has a stranglehold on gun reform. Well, the Koch brothers have a stranglehold on any legislation on climate change--at least as long as our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are in the majority in either House.

One of the key strategies--how do they do this? Lots of different ways. We have seen those ridiculous commercials. They are afraid to say who they are. They have these ads; lots of poor people, minorities; oh, the Koch brothers are hurting--are helping. Koch Industries. And then they have one little sentence: Get rid of regulations. That is all they say. So they have lots of different mechanisms for hiding what they believe but profoundly influencing America.

One of the ways they have done that is by funding think tanks and academic institutions to deliberately cast doubt on the signs of climate change in order to protect their own financial interests. The Koch brothers earn their billions leading the private oil, chemical, and manufacturing conglomerate Koch Industries. In short, they are the premier anti-environmental, pro-pollution duo of the 21st century, and over the past two decades, they have mastered a strategy meant to confuse the American people about climate change by funding ``think tanks'' and ``university programs'' that adhere to their anti-science agenda.

Take the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. They should call it the Koch Center. Charles Koch sits on the board. Over the last decade, it has received tens of millions in funding from the Koch brothers and $300,000 at least from Big Oil. So it should come as no surprise that the Mercatus Center publishes research that closely mirrors the ideology of the Koch brothers and routinely advocates for policies that are in their business interests, especially climate change denial. They cloak their views in an academic guise, but if you just examine it, you know what is going on: Mercatus Center, funded by the Koch brothers, talks against climate change. Do we think that is objective? I don't. Let's look at some of the activities of the center. In 2001 they suggested that global warming would be ``beneficial'' and would ``stimulate plant growth and make humans better off.'' These are the Koch brothers.

During the early years of George W. Bush's Presidency, the Wall Street Journal reported that 14 of the 23 regulations targeted for repeal by the administration were suggested by--guess who. The nonpartisan, objective, nonfunded Koch brothers' Mercatus Center, including rollback of EPA pollution rules. In 2006 the Mercatus Center attacked the bipartisan work to reduce tailpipe emissions and implement new efficiency standards for automobiles and trucks. In 2007 Mercatus was able to install staffers at the Bush Office of Management and Budget in charge of regulations. In 2009 Mercatus attacked the Obama administration's plan to monitor greenhouse gas emissions.

Some might be thinking, so what? It is just a few academic papers and policy recommendations. Why does it matter? It matters because this private sector-funded research is being used to give the false impression that there is a legitimate academic debate about climate change, and then that debate is used by colleagues as an excuse for no action. It is no different from how the tobacco industry funded research that minimized the health dangers of smoking cigarettes so they could turn around and argue: There is no conclusive evidence that cigarettes are dangerous. No need to regulate us.

Millions of people died because of that. And millions of people are getting ill and many millions more will lose their jobs and we will lose our globe because of what the Koch brothers are doing. We now know how deceptive and cynical their strategy was. Well, that was the tobacco industry. It is happening today, and it is having the same serious consequences.

Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is happening. Democrats know that climate change is happening and want to do something about it today, but congressional Republicans, following their Koch brother funders, holding up studies by the Mercatus Center, funded also by the Koch brothers, refuse to act and even deny it exists.

I would say to the Koch brothers: At least be honest. If you really believe what you say, why not come clean? Why not put out a commercial that says: ``Koch brothers. We don't believe in climate change. Koch Industries. We don't believe that we should regulate the environment.'' Put that on TV so when we are watching ``Morning Joe,'' we don't have these glossy ads that give the exact opposite impression. Do you know why? They know no one is going to believe them. They want to use their money as power, secret power, and one of the secret power ways they use that money is through institutions like the Mercatus Center.

Before all of us can come together on climate change and do something significant--it is not easy--we have to start agreeing about how immediate and incredible the challenge is. With things like the Mercatus Center throwing sand in the gears, that becomes more difficult--not for legitimate reasons but because special interest money cloaks its beliefs in academic centers that stall progress.

Anyone who participates in this should be ashamed of themselves--not just the Koch brothers but so many others who put out these studies and take the money. Shame. Future generations and our generation are going to pay the price.

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